I've heard before that moving is one of the most stressful things a person goes through. This one piece of information has helped give me a greater sense of calm while going through it myself. No matter your situation I've found the one common denominator is that Moving Sucks.
I certainly don't mind the packing part. Putting stuff in boxes and sealing it away for the future is kind of fun. However one rookie mistake I seem to make each time is that I don't often mark the boxes after I've filled them. Yep I left that part to the kids.
Umm let's just say that between them and me I now have one hardcore job of "Unpacking". Nothing is where it's supposed to be. I've torn apart box after box and still have yet to find the packed "Toilet Paper"! This is not going as planned. It never does.
Times like this I think about the stresses of purchasing a house. The stresses of moving ones life are huge and not to be underestimated. Home-buyers and Home-Sellers need to be handled with an extra level of compassion for their part in the process and what their going through. This boxes thing is serious and stressful let alone a location change. Being understanding of this is critical.
Just look at the following pictures and see if you can spot the feeling "Chaos" like I can.
Just re posting this picture gets me feeling frenzied. This one picture pretty much sums up how my move has gone. Lot's of boxes, empty cupboards, stuff everywhere. Ohh yeah did I mention that little cooler is acting like the Family Refrigerator for the next few days? Yes folks moving is hectic.
Everything from work to personal becomes extra complicated when moving. Emotions are running around and sometimes just getting a moment to sit down and rest in quite is it's own challenge. The boxes to me represent "Noise" and when I'm around them I cannot relax. I have found peace away from the chaos using my chess table in a corner with my laptop. Everywhere else at least for the downstairs is a mess. I mean boxes after boxes after boxes.
Rows of boxes in a way I hadn't quite thought of. See here's what I didn't realize. I moved not just my household but also cleaned out a storage from my old move. Did I mention I have boxes everywhere?
Ok so it gets a bit worse. Not only did I bring in the stuff from storage I didn't make it clear to keep them seperate from the other stuff. So my net effect is I don't know when a box is marked LIVING ROOM if it's really the right stuff. It means going through every box. It means that somehow I messed up. I created this mess. I did all the right things. Hired movers, stayed outta the fray.
Quite honestly if it weren't for my kids this picture would have been much worse. I have a soon to be 18 year old son and an almost 15 year old daughter. They have been fantastic in this move. Complete excitement and lots of enthusiasim. It's been fun to see. However I think the mess gets to them even worse then me. They have done a TON of work just getting stuff organized. Here's what it looks like from one end of the room to the next.
Well it's easy to see how my next 48 hours are going to be spent. It's times like these when I appreciate the fact that I'm a Realtor and have the flexability to handle this stuff. Really I'm totally stoked it's still summertime and I have 2 kids that can help!
The big takeaway for me is to remember the position my clients are facing. Often times people don't handle the stress of moving very well. I can't say I blame them one bit.
In the meantime I'll continue to create a CMA and put a dish away!
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